Different core promoters possess distinct regulatory activities in the Drosophila embryo.
There are numerous examples of shared enhancers interacting with just a subset of target promoters. In some cases, specific enhancer-promoter interactions depend on promoter competition, whereby the activation of a preferred target promoter precludes expression of linked genes. Here, we employ a transgenic embryo assay to obtain evidence that promoter selection is influenced by the TATA element. Both the AE1 enhancer from the Drosophila Antennapedia gene complex (ANT-C) and the IAB5 enhancer from the Bithorax complex (BX-C) preferentially activate TATA-containing promoters when challenged with linked TATA-less promoters. In contrast, the rho neuroectoderm enhancer (NEE) does not discriminate between these two classes of promoters. Thus, certain upstream activators, such as Ftz, prefer TATA-containing promoters, whereas other activators, including Dorsal, work equally well on both classes of promoters. These results provide in vivo evidence that different core promoters possess distinct regulatory activities. We discuss the possibility that an invariant TFIID complex can adopt different conformations on the core promoter.
Ohtsuki
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S
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Division of Genetics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
Levine
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M
Cai
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HN
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D051943:Antennapedia Homeodomain Protein; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D004330:Drosophila / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic; D051717:Fushi Tarazu Transcription Factors; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011485:Protein Binding; D011487:Protein Conformation; D016385:TATA Box; D035362:Transcription Factor TFIID; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D019473:Transcription Factors, TFII
D051943:Antennapedia Homeodomain Protein; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D051717:Fushi Tarazu Transcription Factors; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D035362:Transcription Factor TFIID; D014157:Transcription Factors; D019473:Transcription Factors, TFII; C497974:Antp protein, Drosophila; C062236:dl protein, Drosophila; C052837:eve protein, Drosophila; C497169:ftz protein, Drosophila